Madrid: Toronto, Meet Madrid. Madrid, hold on to your hats.

Working at World Youth Day is like working inside a laboratory where everything happens fast, loudly and with an explosion of colour...and all of it is fueled by a faith that needs to be shared. Even so, there are days when a familiar face is a welcome site. This past week I got a visit from two familiar faces: Pedro Guevara Mann and S+L's technical director Javier Capella.

Pedro and Javier flew in to scout out locations for S+L's broadcast booth and locations for on the ground reports, get get inside information about WYD main events and get to know the teams from the Knights of Columbus, the Sisters of Life and Family Rosary International who, along with S+L, will be co-hosting the Love and Life site during WYD.

The Love and Life site will be located in Madrid's Palacio de Deportes and will serve as a hub for English speaking pilgrims. Some of the English language catechesis sessions will be located at the Palacio. The site will also offer a full plate of speakers, musical entertainment, prayer sites, and - most importantly- air conditioning.

Preparing a centre for English speaking pilgrims is no small task. Many, many meetings are involved. It was a great way for everyone from all the different groups to get to know each other and make coordinating such a big task just a little bit easier.

In between meetings Pedro was hard at work scouting locations for reports and finding interesting things to talk about in Madrid...sometimes taking me along, sometimes not.

To the right you can see Pedro and I infront of the Royal Palace.

And below that, Javier looks on as Pedro and I have a battle of the lenses after shooting standups at Puerta de Alcala (I guess since we're using the picture from Pedro's point of view, he won the battle!).

Be sure to stay tuned to Salt + Light this August for our complete World Youth Day Madrid coverage!

Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation – Born on the wings of World Youth Day 2002 in Canada, Salt + Light is a unique instrument of the New Evangelization. It is dedicated to being – and helping others become – the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Our mission is to proclaim Jesus Christ and the joy of the Gospel to the world by telling stories of hope that bring people closer to Christ and the Catholic faith.

We share the joys and hopes of the Gospel through television, radio, print, and online media. Our work unites people together through prayer, celebration, reflection, education, authentic dialogue and enquiry, thought-provoking reporting and stories of faith and action. We also challenge believers to grow in the knowledge of the faith and the Catholic tradition in its many expressions. We strive to offer an invitation to all peoples, especially those on the peripheries of faith and the Church, to draw closer to the Lord and experience the community of the Church.